Looking around the dungeons, Harry was surprised that it was furnished better than the rest of the halls and passage ways of the school, carpets on the floors, portraits on the walls from Salazar Slytherin to Severus Snape, the current Head of Slytherin House and all heads in between.
"I never realised that the dungeons look this... this..." Harry trailed off, having no words that fit what the dungeons looked like.
Snape looked back at Harry and smiled a small smile, "The halls we walk through were furnished by Salazar Slytherin himself; he wanted the most comfort for his students, his children, so he furnished his part of the castle." He explained.
"So if I had let the hat sort me into Slytherin, I would be around the parts of the dungeons like this?"
"Yes that would be the case; you see only a Slytherin can see what you see now."
"So that's why I saw nothing but a cold dark dungeon in second year." Harry looked amused.
"And what were you doing in my dungeons during your second year, may I ask?"
"That is a story for later Professor, you spill your heart and I'll spill mine." Harry replied.
"Where are your rooms Professor?" Harry asked looking at each of the portraits adorning the hall.
"My rooms are behind all of these portraits Mr. Potter, but they are only exits, you must get the right one to gain entry to where we are staying." Snape explained.
"So in other words all of the other portraits but the right one are all trap like doors?" Harry asked trying to understand what Snape was saying better.
"That is exactly what I said Mr. Potter."
Harry just rolled his eyes, "So which portrait is it Professor?"
"How many portraits can you speak to in this hallway Mr. Potter?" Snape questioned the boy.
Harry walked up and down the hall, looking at each and every portrait, each of them moved, but none of them spoke.
'Which of the portraits can I speak to?' Harry looked at the portraits once again and stopped next to Snape.
"Have you figured it out yet Mr. Potter?"
"I think that I have Professor." Harry replied.
"And which portrait do you think it is?" Snape asked.
Harry ignored Snape for a minute while he concentrated a little, 'So which one of you is it that I need hmm?' He questioned in Parseltongue.
'So long it has been since one of the Snake Speakers has graced the Heads halls and the last was Salazar Slytherin himself.' hissed a snake from one of the portraits, all Harry had to do then was find the snake that spoke to him and enter the rooms.
Harry walked over to the Hogwarts Slytherin Crest and looked at the Basilisk, 'Is it you that spoke to me?' He asked.
The snake on the tapestry did it's best to acknowledge Harry's question by nodding his head, 'So you are the entrance to Snapes rooms?' The snake nodded once more.
Harry beamed at the tapestry and then turned to see the look on Snapes face once he had found out that he knew where the entrance was.
"So how did I do?" he asked
"You cheated," was all Snape said before moving over to the tapestry and saying the password, Legacy.
Harry watched the tapestry roll up the wall and a heavy wooden door swing open after the tapestry had risen to admit the two men into the room beyond.
Snape walked into the main section of his rooms where two recliners were set up next to a waist height onyx glass table facing the fireplace on a 45-degree angle.
"Please take the left side seat Mr. Potter." Snape said indicating the green recliner, "Would you like anything to eat or drink?"
Harry said sitting down, getting comfortable in the recliner, "Yes please sir, Dobby the House Elf knows what I have for breakfast each morning"
Snape drew his wand from his robes and summoned Dobby from the kitchens to get Harry's breakfast.
"How can Dobby help Professor Snape Sir?" Dobby asked looking up at Snape with big yellow, green eyes.
Snape nodded over to Harry, "Bring Mr. Potters breakfast to him please Dobby."
Dobbys eyes went wider at the mention of Harry being in the Potion Masters dungeons, moving over and quickly appeared on Harry's lap hugging the stuffing out of him.
"Mr. Harry Potter Sir." Dobby squealed hugging Harry tighter as he spoke.
"Hello Dobby," Harry wheezed, "could you get me my usual breakfast please, the one I taught you to make for me during the school year and summer?"
"Oh of course Mr. Harry Potter sir." Dobby replied with enthusiasm and disappeared with a pop from the room.
"And what, Mr. Potter, did you teach a House Elf to do?" Snape asked
"I don't trust my meals to be handles by another House Elf other than Dobby because of the whole Voldemort (Snape flinched) factor, never knowing when it's a House Elf or a fellow student trying to poison me." Harry explained to Snape as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"What does this breakfast consist of Mr. Potter?"
"It consists of what I need to start the day Professor, which you will also get to taste when Dobby brings you some as well as me." Harry explained.
Just as Snape was about to reply that he didn't eat breakfast in the mornings Dobby popped back into the room with two trays laden with pancakes, a fruit salad and pumpkin juice.
"Your breakfast Mr. Harry Potter Sir, Professor Snape Sir." He said placing the trays down onto the onyx and glass table.
"Thank you Dobby, if I need you before lunch I'll be sure to call for you."
"Of course Mr. Harry Potter Sir." Dobby nodded and disappeared with a pop leaving Professor and student to eat their breakfast.
"As I asked before Mr. Potter, what is this breakfast consist of?" he asked once again looking suspiciously at the laden tray.
"All you have to do Professor is cut a bit off and taste it, that way you'll find out what it is all on your own." Harry explained a challenging tone in his voice as he picked up his breakfast and began to eat.
Snape sighed and picked up his tray, knowing that he wasn't going to get anymore out of the boy other than what he had already explained to him.
"I promise to you that it isn't poisoned Professor, never would I ask Dobby to do that to another, let alone a Professor." Harry said through a mouthful of pancakes.
Cutting a small piece from his pancake Snape chewed thoroughly, looking for what ever it was that was put into the mixture other than what is ordinarily put into the mixture.
"Have you figured it out yet Professor?" Harry asked.
"I can taste the normal pancake mixture mixed with Honeydukes chocolate, a Pepper – Up Express, a strong protein and nutrition potion as well."
Harry chuckled, "Should have known that you would figure it out Professor."
Snape looked at Harry, "Would you like to explain to me why you have this particular blend in your pancakes, because you do know that the original pancake mixture intensifies the magnitude of the potion?"
"Maybe once you and I have finished with our breakfast I will explain to you the circumstances as to why I have this particular mixture every morning for breakfast." Harry replied and returned back to his own breakfast.
Snape looked to Harry for anything more of an explanation but was not going to get one from the young man next to him until he was ready to talk about it, giving up for the moment Snape continued to eat his own breakfast.
Half an hour had passed since either of them had spoken, some what enjoying each others company whilst eating, becoming comfortable with the other.
"Would you like for me to explain why I have been having Dobby make my breakfast for the last couple of years?" Harry asked finally breaking the silence.
"It would be nice to know a little about your life as well as you knowing about the more devastating part of my life when I get around to telling you."
Harry looked at Snape, "An exchange of information huh?"
"Yes Mr. Potter, an exchange of information, I am a Slytherin am I not?"
Harry nodded, "Very well then Professor." He said putting his tray aside, "I presume that you and the other teachers have been told that I have a link to Voldemort and that with this link I have visions, you even tried to help me with this last year by using Occulmency.
I feel the pain of the curses that Voldemort casts on his followers when they have completed a task that isn't to his satisfaction and his strongest emotions, when he's feeling extremely happy that something is well done, extremely angry, many of the stronger emotions.
Every morning I wake up I feel drained and in need by what I go through every night thanks to Voldemort and my own nightmares once he had finished with his meetings, the deaths haunt me.
That is why I had to come up with something that would give me the start I need and the right things that my body needs, hence the protein and the nutrients." Harry explained.
"But why do you need the extra protein and nutrients?"
"I was never fed very well when I was growing up, the Dursleys didn't like me and never liked to waste their money on a freak, a waste of time is all that I was. A nameless child until I went to Muggle school and my bedroom was the cupboard under the stairs."
Snape looked at Harry, assessing the situation and what his reply could possibly be and how he could go about doing something for the boy.
"Is that why you're as short as you are?" he asked instead.
Harry nodded, "Yeah, Poppy told me that by now my father was nearly six foot and mum wasn't far behind." He grumbled, "Now that I have told you a little about myself, would you tell me why I am here under your care?"
Snape looked Harry in the eye, "This is tale is apart of my life that I would prefer that would have never happened and will be very emotional for me to tell you because of what it contains so I ask you to please bear with me whilst I tell you my tale. Now is there anything you'd like to ask me before I start?" he asked
"Yes sir there is actually, I was wondering, if this is so painful for you to tell me, to tell anyone then why don't you place these memories inside a pensive then you don't have to go through so much emotional pain?"
Snape stared at Harry, shock written though out his body but not written on his face at the response, "Also it would give me a better understanding to what you're trying to tell me if I see it."
"I have to admit that I have never thought to do that before, thank you for bringing that up for me Harry." Snape said as he stood and made his way over to the onyx made book case to retrieve his Pensive from the highest shelf as if his being was on nothing but auto pilot.
"Harry I am going to ask you to be patient while I retrieve the necessary memories for you to view, so if you would like you may read on of the books on the third and forth shelf."
"Thank you Professor, but from here I can see a book that I would like to read, with your permission of course since it is on the first shelf."
"Which one is it Mr. Potter?" Snape asked looking up at the young man with an eyebrow raised, "Because the ones on the first shelf aren't even in English."
Harry looked at Snape as though he was talking in another language, "But Professor, the book third in from the right is in English."
Snape looked from Harry to the book he was speaking of, 'But why can't I read it?' He thought.
"Alright Mr. Potter, you may read it if you can, but whatever you find out, would you please translate it into English for me, I would like to know what the book is about."
"It's about Potions and the Dark Arts," Harry replied, "By Salazar Slytherin." ' Oh, so that's why I could read it and Snape couldn't.' "It's in Parseltongue Professor, it just made sense."
Snape moved to the shelf quickly and grabbed the book and handed it to Harry, "Then by all means read it Mr. Potter, maybe it will have something about a potential cure for Werewolves."
"Thank you Professor, I'll take good care of it." Harry said taking the book from the out stretched hand and opened it to the first page and started to read the language of the snake king.
To the young man that is reading this book.
I am Salazar Slytherin, one of the Four Founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and if you are reading this text then you are my Heir, for only my Heirs can read and write the language of the Snake.
Within the Wizarding world there is two types of Parseltongue speakers, the rarest form, which you have is passed only to my direct descendants.
Type one is the more dominant common form of the two, this is where a person and any person can speak to snakes, command them, control them or to have them to be a companion.
The second type of Snake speaker is one that is the rarest of the Parseltongue language, and the superior tongue, one that is only passed down from me to my Heir and only my Heir.
You are not only capable of speaking the language of the snake but also being able to read and write the language of the snake.
It wouldn't help for you to translate this text for another since the spells will not work for another; they do not have the magic that passed down the generations. They do not have the magic that is yours to perform the potions and spells.
My Heir, this book has been left to you so you may fulfil your greatest destiny, the destiny that was laid out before you had even come into existence and the spells and potions will be needed to defeat the evil placed on earth.
Now pass these pages for there is nothing more of importance for you to know on these next few pages, you may read them if you so wish, but there is nothing more but my life history for you to read.
Be safe my child and may I see you when your inheritance comes into full being so that I may give you your gifts to make you a better man.
Your loving founding father,
Salazar Slytherin.
Harry had to stop reading at where it was signed, knowing that there was a living Heir of Slytherin was bad enough, but to know that he was actually the Heir of Slytherin and not Voldemort which everybody thought.
'But I thought that I was the Heir of Godric Gryffindor and not the Heir of Slytherin, Dumbledore even told me so in second year. But there can be no other explanation; it's written in Slytherins hand so it must be true.
What else has Dumbledore been hiding from me that is needed to be known to win this war?'
Harry sighed heavily and rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on from this new information.
Looking over to Snape, Harry wondered how much longer it would take for him to be finished getting the memories he wanted Harry to see so that Harry could go into the Forbidden Forest and sit with Treebeard for a while.
"Are you ready Mr. Potter?" Snape asked breaking into Harry's thoughts, Harry looked up in shock.
"Huh? What?" Harry garbled.
"Are you ready to see what I have to show you Mr. Potter?"
"Yes of course, but thought that you should know that this book is definitely written by Salazar Slytherin. Also sir, since I am going to be looking at something pretty intimate as going into your memories I think that you should be calling me Harry."
"Than I must ask you to call me Severus." Snape replied as he placed the Pensive onto the onyx glass table.
"The primary memories that I want you to see are there, but when you get to the end of the memories, which is of me in a very emotional position I ask you that you please leave my Pensive."
"You have my full confidence that I will not go any further than you have asked of me and this time I will not take advantage of any of this." Harry replied moving the recliner around to better suit his position next to the table.
"That is all I ask Mr. Po... Harry that is all I ask." Snape replied.
"Sir before I do go into your memories, how long do you think that this will take?"
"It may take about an hour because you have to go through the actually memories, why do you ask?"
"I need to talk to the Headmaster about something, would I be done by lunch time?"
"Yes you should, about ten minutes before lunch I think Harry if you get started right now."
"Alright." Harry said taking a deep breath and touching his wand to the silvery liquid, a swirling sensation at his belly button as he was pulled into the Pensive's memories.